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More than once I've seen "Gone Girl" on the shelves. Whenever I went to Barnes and Noble or Wal-Mart or a library I saw that book sitting on the shelves proudly looking over the area around it as though it were aware of some superiority that it held over other books. For the longest time I avoided it like the plague. No particular reason, actually. It just never really showed up on my radar other than a fleeting "oh look, there's that book again" thought before going off to search for what I really went there for. There was no reason behind not wanting to read it. No self-important idea that somehow the topic which the book would cover was below my level of interest. Mostly because I didn't even know what it was about. But one day I was on vacation with my mom and my aunt. We'd gone to Wal-Mart in the town where my Grandpa lives (we were visiting him, you see, though that really has nothing to do with the story at hand) and I once again saw it sitting there looking at me. For some reason I thought "What the hell? I'll give it a shot."

(Summery provided by Barnes and Noble.com)

"Marriage can be a real killer.

One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?"

Now that doesn't sound too bad, does it? While in the early stages of the novel I figured that even if it wasn't any good at least I'd know for sure now.

Boy was I wrong.

There are only a handful of novels that activate some weird part of my brain that starts drawing connections between it and my own life. Two, actually. The other one was "Revolutionary Road" but that's beside the point. This case, admittedly, may have been partly due to the jetlag of having just come back from a vacation and possible mensie madness. I can't really divulge what made me call my fiancé in a fit of worry over the two of us turning out like the leading characters in this novel (minus the obvious 'missing and suspects you did it' part, obviously), but I CAN tell you it affected me each and every time I picked it up--- only to make me feel like a total moron after I'd gotten to the big part. I loved that. It made me laugh at myself while mystifying me at how wrong I was.

First of all: When you read this novel be prepared to have the truth slap you across the face. Gillian Flynn has an amazing ability to make you THINK you know the leading characters, only to be able to flawlessly turn around and show you that you don't know a thing-- and to do it in a way that doesn't feel tacked on. When big shockers were revealed, I wasn't left feeling like she came up with it at the spur of the moment and thought it would work with the "Rule of Cool." It just left me feeling like the characters weren't honest, and they weren't. By no means.

Admittedly though, the main character, Nike Dunne, seemed a bit preoccupied with the economy. I know it's bad and everything but this guy really harps on it and let's it dictate his whole life. He's got a serious perspective problem that maybe I don't understand because I've never lost a job to the economy or known anyone who has. Maybe when I get older and if it happens to me I'll understand his bitterness better, but that's what it felt like. Like he was just a bitter guy who couldn't get himself together enough to move on.

I can't even talk about Amy, other than she was beautifully written by Flynn and when you read the book she's going to make you laugh a little bit. Not the 'ha-ha that's so funny you're a clown' sort of laughing either. I mean the maniacal, Joker-style laugh that makes people cart you off to Arkham Asylum while you giggle and giggle away. Okay maybe that was more than just a little bit.